Humbug has received major critical acclaim, with many praising the band's newfound maturity. Billboard stated that the band "justif[ies] the hype by shifting its best qualities into different, equally dazzling shapes," while The Record Review noted that with Humbug, the Arctic Monkeys proved themselves to be a "band that surpasses most of its colleagues in terms of songwriting and performance ability." In his positive review of the album, Joe Tangari of Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

 noted that "Humbug isn't better than either of its predecessors, but it expands the group's range and makes me curious where it might go next. It also demonstrates a great deal of staying power for a band that could have imploded before it ever got this far." While overall response was positive, the album was criticised by some for not containing the same hooks that the band had become known for, with Spin calling the album "accomplished, but not particularly infectious."

Track listing

Singles

• "Crying Lightning
  Crying Lightning
  -Charts:...
  
  " (6 July 2009, Domino Records) #12
• "Cornerstone
  Cornerstone (song)
  -Charts:Being released as an EP in Oxfam shops, the single charted at number 94 in the UK charts, 99 in the Australian charts and charted at 7 on the UK indie charts. It also debuted at number 7 on the Soundscan singles charts for sales in Canada....
  
  " (16 November 2009, Domino Records) #94
• "My Propeller
  My Propeller
  -Charts:...
  
  " (22 March 2010, Domino Records) #90

Charts

Charts (2009)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... )	2
Finnish Albums Chart	11
France (SNEP Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... )	1
Ireland (IRMA Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... )	1
Japan (Oricon Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... )	3
Netherlands Album Chart	2
New Zealand (RIANZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... )	3
Portugal Albums Chart	7
Spain (PME)	5
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... )	12
UK (The Official Charts Company UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... )	1
US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...	15

Chart procession and succession

Credits and personnel

• Alex Turner
  Alex Turner (musician)
  Alexander David Turner is an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist and main songwriter of the English rock band Arctic Monkeys...
  
   - lead vocals, lead/rhythm guitar
• Jamie Cook
  Jamie Cook
  Jamie Robert Cook is the lead guitarist for the British indie rock band Arctic Monkeys.He is the most outspoken member, going on record as saying he "fucking hates the [print] news" and defending the band's numerous successive records by saying, "I couldn’t see us being like Coldplay, it’d just be...
  
   - lead/rhythm guitar, organ on "Pretty Visitors"
• Nick O'Malley
  Nick O'Malley
  Nicholas O'Malley , is the bass guitarist of Sheffield-based band Arctic Monkeys.- Biography :O'Malley was drafted in as a temporary replacement for bassist Andy Nicholson when the latter announced he would not make the band's North America tour in May 2006...
  
   - bass guitar, backing vocals
• Matt Helders
  Matt Helders
  Matthew Helders , is the drummer for English indie rock band Arctic Monkeys. He is the most comprehensive backing vocalist in the group, appearing on several tracks, including the majority of 'Humbug'...
  
   - drums, backing vocals
• Josh Homme - backing vocals on "Dangerous Animals", "Potion Approaching" and "I Haven't Got My Strange", glockenspiel and vocals on "The Jeweller's Hands"
• Alison Mosshart
  Alison Mosshart
  Alison Nicole Mosshart is an American singer, songwriter and occasional model best known as the lead vocalist for the indie rock band The Kills and blues rock band The Dead Weather. She started her musical career in 1995 with the Florida punk rock band Discount which disbanded in 2000...
  
   - guest backing vocals on "Fire and the Thud"

All tracks produced by Josh Homme, except tracks 1, 4 and 7, produced by James Ford. All lyrics by Alex Turner.

Release history

Country	Date
Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...	19 August 2009
Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...	21 August 2009
Austria Austria Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
Ireland Ireland Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...	24 August 2009
Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...	25 August 2009
United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...	26 August 2009
Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...	28 August 2009
Greece Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....	31 August 2009
Turkey Turkey Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

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